Turn Your Acquisition Into a Transformation Story

Buying a business is only the beginning. The real work starts when you inherit legacy systems, long-tenured teams, and expectations built for a different era.

Unlocking new value requires a compelling vision translated into disciplined, day-to-day execution and healthy accountability.

Meritage partners with acquisition entrepreneurs to implement an operating system that creates clarity fast and delivers results without breaking what already works.

How We Help
Acquisition Entrepreneurs

A Proven Operating System That Creates Clarity Fast

Modernization of Legacy Operations

Leadership And Alignment Across Inherited Teams

Capital And Governance Guidance Shaped By Operators

How We Help
Acquisition Entrepreneurs

A Proven Operating System That Creates Clarity Fast

We help acquisition entrepreneurs implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS®) to quickly create clarity, establish accountability, and align the company around a shared direction from day one of ownership.
Clear roles, decision rights, & accountability across inherited leadership teams
Faster alignment around priorities without disrupting day-to-day operations
Predictable execution that builds trust with employees, lenders, & investors

Modernization Of Legacy Operations

We help modernize legacy operations with discipline—using data, systems, and selective automation to improve margins without disrupting what already works.
Improved visibility into cost, performance, & margin drivers
Targeted automation that reduces manual work without adding complexity
Stronger operating leverage as systems scale with the business

Leadership And Alignment Across Inherited Teams

We help new owners build trust and align inherited leadership teams around clear roles, shared priorities, and a common operating rhythm.
Faster trust and clarity across leadership teams during ownership transition
Clear accountability that reduces friction and decision bottlenecks
A shared operating rhythm that keeps teams focused and moving forward

Capital And Governance Guidance Shaped By Operators

We provide capital and governance guidance shaped by firsthand experience raising capital, managing boards, and operating through real investor pressure.
Productive dynamics between owners, boards, & leadership
Capital decisions that support execution instead of creating friction
Greater confidence navigating lender, investor, & board conversations
"I can't recommend Alex Hodgkin highly enough for any ETA operator looking to start the EOS journey."
Robert Graham
Partner, SIG Partners
"Working with Jay has brought real clarity and structure to our leadership team, giving our company a process to lean on. Jay is both direct and thoughtful, keeping us focused on moving forward with the right priorities with clear decision and owners."
Jessica Palfrey
Co-CEO, Luggage Forward
"EOS with Alex is a game-changer. I can testify to that."
Andrew Hitchings
Owner, Colorado Home Services

Frequently Asked Questions

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Send us an email.
Where are you located?

 We are based in Denver but working nationally. We travel to clients, and are also happy to run your offsites and sessions at our locations in Denver, Vail, or Winter Park.

Who is behind Meritage?

Meritage is led by entrepreneurs, operators, investors, and founders who’ve built, bought, funded, and scaled real businesses. We’ve worked across technology and traditional industries, venture-backed and self-funded companies, and teams ranging from software engineers to frontline operators.

We came together around a shared insight: the companies that win aren’t always the ones with the best ideas or the most capital — they’re the ones that execute with discipline while others chase shy objects

Meritage exists to be the partner we wish we’d had: grounded, practical, and deeply experienced in execution, capital, and modernization.

What is a Business Operating System?

A Business Operating System is a framework for how a company runs day to day. It aligns leadership around a shared vision, establishes clear accountability, and creates a consistent cadence for setting priorities, solving problems, and tracking performance.

Every business has an operating system, but often they evolve almost accidentally, without much thought to how the whole system will work together, and often relying heavily on heroics and intuition. Systems like these break down when your business is under pressure.

A strong and deliberate business operating system helps organizations stay focused, make better decisions, and move forward with clarity—especially in periods of rapid growth or transformation.

What is EOS® (Entrepreneurial Operating System)?

EOS® is a complete business operating system designed to simplify and streamline even the most complex business challenges. It focuses on six key components of a healthy business: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction. 

Rather than theory, it emphasizes consistent habits and discipline, helping teams gain control of their business, create momentum, and execute more effectively as they scale.

Why did we choose EOS® as our preferred Business Operating System?

We'd each found EOS at critical moments in our own companies and watched it transform chaos into clarity. It worked just as well for a 1000-person B2B SaaS company as it did for a multi-location food and beverage company or a small family business. The principles of operational excellence are universal—only the application changes.

What kind of companies does Meritage work with?

We work with ambitious, growth-minded leaders who want to build something enduring. At the earlier stage, our clients have some real traction—often $2M+ in revenue or have raised $3M+ in outside capital—and are navigating the shift from entrepreneurial momentum to disciplined scale. 

Many of our companies have between $10M and $50M in revenue, though we also regularly partner with much larger organizations facing meaningful transformation, including public companies. 

What matters most isn’t size or industry, but mindset: leaders who are open to change, committed to growth, and more concerned about standing still than doing the hard work required to move forward.

What is Meritage’s history?

Our founders pioneered venture capital in the Rocky Mountain region, with over 40 years of investment experience. As a firm, we have always been dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build remarkable organizations. 

Over time, we saw that venture capital began to evolve away from helping entrepreneurs build organizations to become just another asset class, so we shifted our approach to focus on what we think matters most—operational excellence, capital expertise, and practical modernization practices.

How are you different from other EOS® implementers?

We are the only firm of EOS® implementers that specialize in serving companies that have raised outside capital. We understand the unique pressures of venture-backed or private equity growth,  which uniquely positions us to serve both companies that have raised outside capital as well as venture and PE firms themselves. 

We also have unique expertise in AI. Our team has led modernization of companies across industries—from AI-native startups to long-standing, operationally complex businesses. We understand the realities of legacy systems, frontline teams, regulatory constraints, and investor expectations. We apply EOS® with a unique view towards improving outcomes via smart technology modernization.

All businesses face challenges. Execution decides who wins.

We partner with select leaders to establish world-class execution—bringing operational discipline, capital fluency, and thoughtful modernization to build remarkable businesses.
"Jay has been with us from the beginning of our EOS journey. His knowledgable and professional approach helped overcome the natural reticence that accompanies any major operational change."
Carl Koelbel
CEO, Koelbel
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